1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wireless telecommunications, and more specifically, relates to a system and method for reducing the wait time at telecommunication originating wireless device during a push-to-talk (PTT) communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology advancement has made mobile telephones or wireless communications devices inexpensive and accordingly ubiquitous. As wireless telecommunication devices are manufactured with greater processing ability and storage, they also become more versatile and incorporate many features including direct radio communication capability between two or a group of individual handsets. This direct radio communication capability is commonly known as the push-to-talk (PTT) or “walkie-talkie” feature that allows a user with one handset to communicate with the device of a predefined set of members of a group without dialing a destination telephone number.
In one version of a PTT system, a wireless telecommunication device, such as a wireless telephone handset, uses one single frequency for both upward and downward communications with a remote PTT server, while in a normal wireless communication a wireless telephone uses two frequencies for communicating with the PTT server, one for outgoing and one for incoming communications. In one extant form, The PTT system requires the person who is speaking to press a PTT button while talking and then release it when done. Any listener in the group can then press their button to respond. In this manner, the system determines which direction the signal travels. In a typical configuration, when a user makes a call to a receiving party or a group of receiving parties using the PTT system, the user's handset first makes a request to a remote server by informing the server it is ready to transmit. The remote PTT server verifies that no other party is using the communication channel, that the channel is available, and then assigns the channel to the user. The user's message is received by the server and the server sends the message for each and every receiving party. After the message is transmitted to every receiving party, the channel is released and ready for use by other parties.
During the process described above, usually there is a noticeable delay between the time a user presses a PTT button at his handset until the time the user is allowed to input his audio message. The delay is caused by the network and server set-up to handle and relay the communication. The server will grant the floor to the user after the targeted devices have responded and are ready to receive the audio message. Though short, the delay can be annoying; especially today when people are expecting direct telecommunications be as close to instantaneous as possible.
Therefore, it is desirous to have an apparatus and method that enables a server to quickly dispatch a response to the wireless device and the wireless device to quickly establish a PTT communication in a PTT communication system. It is to such an apparatus and method the present invention is primarily directed.